CCCS serves as a central point of contact for the creation of supplier relationships, program implementation planning and execution, and a repository of best practice information on process efficiency. CCCS provides programs, materials, and resources necessary to support the business operations needs of its member organizations and their member institutions. CCCS's philosophy relies on a cooperative arrangement of independent higher education institutions working across geographical boundaries and consolidating their volumes of purchased supplies, equipment, and services to reduce business operating costs and streamline internal processes. Membership and participation in CCCS and CCCS programs is strictly voluntary. Member institutions may decide to participate in one, two, all, or none of the CCCS programs. MICUA joined CCCS in February, 2010.

The Liberty Mutual auto and home insurance program provides institutions with a proven employee benefit program, combining high levels of customer service and convenience, comprehensive coverage options, and significant group discounts for employees’ personal insurance needs. This easy-to-administer benefit program offers member institutions a dedicated account team to implement, manage, and coordinate all aspects of the program.

CertifiedBackground.com is a nationwide provider of background screening services for colleges and universities. The Coalition contract provides members with cost-savings solutions for faculty and staff background screening services prior to employment and/or promotion decisions. Additionally, for member institutions evaluating students for admission to their professional programs, this new agreement provides cost effective options to ensure qualification pre-requisites are met by the applicants.

Benefits Programs

AffinityLTC has negotiated a Best in Class employee Long Term Care Insurance benefit that can be offered on a Voluntary or Employer Paid basis at little to no cost to your institution. They bring a laser-like focus on “service and responsiveness” not only to the institution but also to valued employees today and ongoing. Currently in various stages of discussion with over 250+ peers and more than 100 have already taken advantage of this turnkey program.

Genworth Financial, Inc. is a publicly traded global financial security company with more than $100 billion in assets and a presence in more than 25 countries. We're recognized in Standard & Poor's 500 Index of Leading U.S. companies and ranked in the Fortune 50. Genworth is strategically focused and positioned to provide the stability, confidence and support our policyholders, customers and distributors can rely on now and in the future.

Nelnet Business Solutions Inc. is a major national provider of campus commerce and payment solutions to the higher education market. Serving over 800 colleges and universities, Nelnet is a leading provider of payment plans and e-commerce options. Its programs span student account management and refund systems; third party, on-line processing of credit card transactions; and outsourced accounts payable responsibilities.

E&I is the member-owned, not-for-profit sourcing cooperative focused on education. Members have access to a diverse portfolio of competitively awarded contracts, electronic procurement platforms and consulting services to help you reduce costs and optimize supply chain efficiencies.

JPMorgan Chase provides Coalition-eligible campuses a more efficient and effective low-dollar purchase option through the use of a corporate procurement card program. Through the replacement of manual, paper-based purchases with p-cards, transactions are more immediate for the cardholder, more controlled through pre-approved limits and uses, and a source of electronic purchasing data for better budget management for the institutions. In addition to an on-line reconciliation system at no cost, the program also pays a generous rebate back to all participating schools based on their purchased volume. With a history of consistent volume growth, participating campuses have experienced improved labor utilization, faster needs fulfillment, and increased cost savings through the consolidation of suppliers.

The Principal Financial Group offers Coalition eligible campuses a full slate of voluntary employee benefits programs, including for life, disability, vision, and dental insurance. For 70 years, Principal Life Insurance Company has provided flexible, affordable, and quality benefit solutions for growing institutions. As an additional incentive to participation, the Principal offers their electronic benefits management system, EBenefit Edge, at a discount for those campuses choosing just one of their program offerings.

The Coalition for College Cost Savings and UnitedHealthcare have developed a holistic employee healthcare insurance program for faculty and staff of participating institutions. It includes group medical and pharmacy, combined with a portfolio of clinical and wellness solutions, consumer tools and programs, all designed to help drive convenient affordable health care. The Coalition UnitedHealthcare program is national in scope and local in focus, with the goal of providing competitive value to each local state association while aggregating the national strength of the Coalition to benefit every participating institution.

First American Education Finance provides leasing and asset management services to institutions for a wide range of their technology and equipment. Through the consolidation of equipment purchases from a number of Coalition eligible campuses, First American offers very competitive lease rates to provide an expense-lease alternative to the expenditure of capital dollars for equipment and technology purchases.

Founded in 1967, Fastenal Company is the fastest growing full-line maintenance, repair, and operation supplies (MRO) and the largest fastener distributor in the nation. Fastenal focuses on customer service and works diligently to help customers attain their business goals, reduce procurement costs, and ensure quality products and performance, while maintaining a consistently high level of service. With its discounted pricing and 2300 locations nation-wide, Fastenal strives to provide best-value cost containment and supply-chain solutions to Coalition eligible campuses.

UnitedHealthcare StudentResources offers Coalition-eligible institutions compliant and flexibly featured student healthcare insurance options for their student body and their parents. With three contract options, plus other plans that may be shaped to meet the specific needs of individual campuses, the student insurance program has been designed to maximize choice and tailor care levels for student populations of all sizes. When it comes to implementing and administering large national plans like The Coalition, UnitedHealthcare StudentResources has both a national network of participating physicians and a comprehensive customer service network specifically designed for the needs of our participating institutions.

Higher One Payments, Inc. is a fully PCI-certified payment processing company in higher education. Higher One/CASHNet’s student loan service provides the option of a single company to manage all payments and refunds for student account programs. Additionally, One Disburse from Higher One provides refund management, electronic payroll, financial literacy, and student banking services. HigherOne/CashNet also offers third party transactions processing for credit card transactions from campus auxiliaries, athletic, and entertainment events.

For more information about CCCS programs, please contact:

MICUAMatthew Power, Vice President of Government AffairsPhone: 410-269-0306mpower@micua.org

OTHER CONSORTIA

MICUA institutions are also involved in consortia and aggregated purchasing activities with non-MICUA members. MICUA encourages institutions to take advantage of all cost-saving opportunities.

Baltimore Collegetown Network

This consortium of 15 Baltimore-area institutions of higher education works together on a variety of projects. Ten of the member institutions are MICUA members. Consortium activities include: cross-registration of classes, joint marketing activities, shuttle bus service among campuses, and joint purchasing of plain paper.

For more information about the Baltimore Collegetown Network, please contact Executive Director Kristen Campbell (tel: 410-532-3037) or visit the website at www.baltimorecollegetown.org.

The Round Table provides a forum where academic library directors can share ideas and concerns and discuss issues and trends that impact the administration and delivery of library services. Founded in 1976, the Round Table encourages and seeks to facilitate cooperative ventures through joint purchasing, reciprocal borrowing, staff training, joint collection development and planning, and other activities. The group supports a joint membership to the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), an international alliance of academic and research libraries that promotes expanded access through digital technology. Additionally, the Round Table sponsors scholarships to attend the Maryland Library Leadership Institute for librarians who demonstrate leadership potential and initiative in their work at member institutions.

Maryland Interlibrary Consortium

Six MICUA members participate in the Maryland Interlibrary Consortium (MIC): Hood College, Loyola University Maryland, Mount St. Mary's University, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Stevenson University, and Washington Adventist University. Collectively, these institutions have access to about 800,000 volumes with 24-hour courier service to the various campuses. MIC participating institutions are also collaborating on purchases such as digital databases. (One recent group purchase, for example, saved Stevenson about $5,000.)

For more information about MIC, please contact library staff at the participating institutions.

Arrangements between MICUA institutions

Many MICUA institutions partner with other MICUA schools on specific projects. For example, Notre Dame of Maryland University and Loyola University Maryland jointly own and operate a library; Notre Dame contracts with Loyola to provide student health coverage to Notre Dame students; and Notre Dame allows Loyola soccer teams to use their soccer field.